Whatever your opinion on Valentine’s Day as an adult, you have to admit that as a parent it’s pretty darn cute – and a welcome distraction in what can be one of the darkest, coldest, and most boring month’s of the year! Even if your kid has to have the My Little Pony valentines, there are still some fun and crafty projects you can do to jazz up your Valentines!

Felt Chair Backer

I saw these at Pottery Barn a couple of years ago. I wanted to get one for Hannah last year, but by the time I remembered they were sold out in the store and I couldn’t justify expedited shipping costs on top of the $20 price tag for a felt envelope. So I decided to make one myself. It wound up costing me $2 in felt. The rest – ribbon to attach to a chair, embroidery floss to stitch the edge, the scallop scissors and the glue, I had on hand.

Basically you cut out all the components to make an envelope (I cut up some paper to illustrate):

Then just glue all the edges down and use your creativity to decorate. Craft stores have a lot of felt shapes and letters with sticker backs, or you can cut out your own shapes and glue them on. Shaping scissors can be used to decorate the edges of the envelope. A couple of slits in the back to attach the ribbon and you can tie right onto a chair!

Hannah’s is kind of like a Valentine’s Day stocking. It comes out around the beginning of February with a few other decorations, and then on Valentine’s Day she opens it and find cards from Mommy and Daddy, grandparents, etc.

Gumball Necklace

I had originally seen this on Pinterest and had pinned it as a “save for when Hannah’s older” project. But it’s just so cute I decided to do it for this Valentine’s Day. Not wanting to be labeled as “that parent who gave preschoolers gumballs”, I decided that we would save these as Valentine’s Day treats for teachers, besties, and her gumball obsessed auntie.

You’ll need:

·      Gumballs (I found these pink sparkly ones at the candy store at the Natick Mall, but I’ve seen a lot of pink and red ones around for the holiday)

·      Ribbon

·      Metal meat skewer

·      Tape

·      Paper, fabric, or felt flowers for embellishment

·      Hot glue gun (regular glue was unsuccessful)

Most importantly, you will need clean dry hands (especially if you child is helping). Clean so we don’t spread germs and dry because if your hands are even a little bit damp the color on the gumballs will come off and get everywhere.

We only have wooden skewers, so I wound up using a mini meat thermometer to make the holes in the gumballs. You want to go slow and steady making the holes so the gumballs don’t crack. If one does crack, the best thing to do is pop it in your mouth and move onto the next gumball.

Cut a length of ribbon. Wrap tape around one end of the ribbon to help guide the ribbon through the gumball. Eyeball where you want that gumball to be and tie a knot on either side. Continue with however many gumballs you want to include on your necklace. Hannah and I had found some fabric flowers in the scrapbook section of Michaels and used those to embellish.

And that’s it! To give as a Valentine you can add a little tag or card that says “I CHEWS you to be my Valentine!”

HUGS

This is such an easy fun project for little kids. Hannah loved making them last year at 3 and still loves it this year. This is a great candy-free, handmade treat for your little one to add to their Valentines.

You’ll Need:

·      Pompoms

·      Googly Eyes

·      Heart shapes (we used foam hearts, but you could use craft paper or felt)

·      Elmer’s glue

This is pretty self-explanatory. Make one for your kid to use as a guide and let them go to town!

Happy Valentine’s Day!